Return to Me
by Marco LeonStrife
Summary: Everyone thinks that life has returned to normal in the world of FF7...Sadly...it has not.


Return to Me

Authors Note. This is my Aeris Resurrection fic. It is all original. It could never be as good as the Search for Aeris by Frank Verderosa, but I hope that you will all enjoy it. Enjoy this story. May the beautiful flower girl who brought us so much hope and joy, never die in our hearts. Also, I don't think Cait Sith or Red XIII will play a major part in this story, because I don't like them. Its the sequel to Tears of The Mourners. So read that first, Ok? ^_^

It was a cold, snowy night. I walked into the familiar looking area. It was Midgar. It had been three years, since I had last been there. I looked at the playground. The slide had been cleared of the shrapnel, and there were even a few children in the park now, playing. I then walked through the entrance. Yes, it still needed work. The area had been pretty much cleared though for the most part. I slowly made my way towards the bar, Tifa's new bar. I walked in, and took a seat. I was the only one there. 

"Good evening sir, what would you like?" she smiled her ever familiar smile. 

"Been a while Tiff, how have you and Vince been?"

She looked surprised. "Um, good, thanks. Do I know you?" I looked at her with a kind of grimace and took down my hat. My hair was not spiky any more, I had long since let it grow to my shoulders. My face was unkempt, and need a shave. I no longer wore the ever familiar SOLDIER uniform, and wore a pair of green jeans, and a black flannel shirt. "Cloud....................I haven't seen you since the wedding." she got on the other side, and it was apparent that she was pregnant. 

"Eh Tifa, congrats, you and Vince hit it off pretty quick. How many months?" She smiled. 

"I am eight and a half months pregnant. Hey Vincent, come down, its Cloud!!!!!!!" He floated down the stairs and shook my hand. 

"Greetings Cloud, how are you doing? I hope all is well. You look terrible. Stay with us for awhile." I looked at Vincent and smiled. 

"Its good to see you Vincent. I don't think I could impose on you. Yes, I do look pretty bad I guess. I've been living on the land, killing and eating. I.....I came back because I need you all to help me. I keep trying to kill myself. I have no reason to live now. Sephiroth is gone, and so is Aeris. I have no goal or purpose in life." They looked take aback. Tifa spoke up first. 

"Cloud............Would Aeris have wanted that? Ok, we just have to keep pushing on, in this world. We have to protect the world, that is our goal, and that should be yours!!!!!! Ooh, its closing time." She turned the sign around, "Hey Cloud, lets put the TV on. That sounded good. I hadn't watched TV in a long time. "Hey, Vincent, Ally McBeals on!!!!!" Vincent quickly came floating down the stairs. But instead of Callista Flockharts face, we saw the face of TV reporter Linda Moogle. She was at Kalm, and it was in flames. Firemen in the background were quickly working at them. 

"This town has been completely destroyed today. Everyone has been killed except for a family that had a titanium basement that they locked themselves in. Here is the Father." A sad man's face appeared on the screen. 

"Someone in a long black cape with long, long hair and stern pointy eyes did this. He was truly evil incarnate. All my friends......family in Kalm.....gone." He left because he was crying. Tifa and Vincent looked shocked. There was only one man capable of such evil. 

"Sephiroth............he destroyed Kalm." Tifa and Vincent looked at me in agreement. "We must find him and kill him, once more. We can not be safe until we do so." I had to. I now had a purpose again. I would use it to destroy Sephiroth. Then I remembered something. 

"Hey guys, didn't Barret and Marlene live in Kalm?" Tifa jumped up. "Oh my G..........yes, they did. The three of us must go there, and see if...." she was cut off by a large man that slammed open the door. 

"Tifa, you got any food in this place. Me an Marlene are starving here." the three of us turned around. "Yes, that is Barret. You're alive!!!!!!" Marlene came running to us. She pointed at Tifa's stomach. 

"Baby. You have a baby inside of you." Tifa smiled. "Yes, I do." In the end, Tifa and Vincent let all of us stay. Barret and I got the downstairs guest room, and Marlene got the sofa. But we all put Marlene to bed, and then told Barret what we knew. 

"That foo Sephiroth burned down my town. He will pay!!!!" There were no arguments there.

Tifa decided that the best thing to do would be to call up Cid, and have him pick up the rest of the gang in the Highwind, especially Yuffie, because we needed our materia back. I never went to Cid's wedding. He had two kids by then, he left them behind, kissed Shera goodbye, and picked everyone up. He arrived in two days with the Highwind and everyone else. Yuffie was the first one out. 

"Hey everyone, Im in a generous mood, so all of you can each have one piece of materia!!!!!" There were objections there, so after chasing Yuffie around, and forcefully taking our materia, we had it back again. It was good to have everyone back together in one place. Red was still the same arrogant genius. Cait was still the most annoying thing known to man on two legs. Cid was well..............Cid. Yuffie was still angry at the fact that we had taken all the good materia. These were my friends. We decided to wait in Midgar until we heard any other news. We waited and we waited. There was not too much to do in Midgar. Wall Market was better though nowadays, since Don Corneo had left it. Eventually, a week later, a package arrived. It was from Nibelhelm. We decided that we couldn't trust it, and had Cid fly Cait Sith to a great big field and open it. 

"Nooooooooooo, I don't wanna do it!!!!!!!! I've saved you guys once before, I don't wanna have to get a new body again, and you can't make me do it." So that was final with him. Cid grabbed his Venus Gospel, holding it tight to his throat, and said, 

"Listen you $#^$#@$^# cat, if you do not cooperate, then I will chop you into itty bitty pieces, and there will not be enough of you for Shinra to send a new one, so I suggest that you do it." Cait Sith agreed after that, and with that, we took him to a giant unhappy swamp. Cid instructed Cait Sith to open it when he flew up high enough. Cait Sith hesitantly did. There was an explosion so high, that it hit the Highwind. The Highwind was on Fire. Me, Cid and Yuffie, and Vincent were on it.

"OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!!! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM TOO YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL TO DIE!!!!!!!! I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!!!!!!!!!" that was Yuffie of course. Cid kept his cool though, and steered it to a field, that as luck would have it was 15 miles away from Rocket Town. We then promptly landed, well..........we barely crashed. We then ran, and ran, and ran as fast as we could. Then the Highwind exploded. 

"SEPHIROTH YOU F%$%@&%@@&^&$# SON OF A ^#@$@#^@^$#^! HEARTLESS%%^@@^@^!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Cid didn't take the explosion very well. We had some supplies, but not a lot. So we walked on, and on, with the whining of Yuffie to annoy us. "I wanna go home!!!!!!" or "This is boring!!!!!!" or "Im hungry!!!!!" or "Hey, lets talk about materia!!!!!!" By the end of the day, we all had thought up at least 20 ways to kill her. About mid afternoon the next day we finally made it to Rocket Town. Cid immediately ran to Shera's. She and the one of the children ran out the door with open arms. The first thing that Cid said to Shera after hugging her and the little child was, 

"The Highwind is gone, now get me some %$@%@%& tea!!!!!!!!!!" She looked at him, blinked, and went at it. We all went inside the house and sat down. 

"So Shera, um, how goes everything?" said Yuffie. 

"Im fine thanks." suddenly we heard a baby crying. Shera was about to go to it, but Yuffie was already on it, "

Awwwwwww, your so cute, yes you are!!!" The tea was done, and so we all sat down except for Yuffie. For a little while none of us spoke, we just quietly sipped tea. 

"Uh, good tea Shera." I said at last.

"Thank you Cloud, I almost didn't recognize you, because of your hair." I looked at it self consciously in the nearby mirror.

"Uh, yeah. I decided to change it, because I kept getting shot at in forests by hunters who thought I was some new kind of Chocobo. As for the uniform, I decided I had worn it enough, and so I retired it for now." After that there was silence once more. 

Finally Cid spoke. "Tomorrow we all leave for Nibelhelm, Shera, so I'll be taking the car." She looked at him , "But what about the children? They've missed you so much Cid. Can't you spend some time with them for a little while and then go?" Cid looked guilty. Suddenly the little child came running in. 

"Daddy!!!!!!! Do ya wanna play with me?" He smiled. 

"Sure Lance, lets go." They ran outside. I went to the living room and turned on the TV. Vincen and Yuffie sat down with me. "Well, no one knows about the giant explosion outside of Nibelhelm. All we know is that there looks like nothing could have survived that gigantic blast. It appears to have been the ever famous Highwind. Now for the Sports......." I clicked it off. Vincent looked worried. 

"Tifa might have been watching that. I have to call her!!!!" He floated off to the phone. Yuffie then snatched the remote control. 

"Oooh Ooh oooh, Party of Five is on!!!!!!!" She changed the channel, and the face of Jennifer Love Hewitt appeared. "I don't think so!!!!" I grabbed the controller, and changed the channel. Xena was on. I sat down happily. 

"No you don't !!!!" Yuffie grabbed the controller, and changed it. 

"Oooh!!!!!!! Powerpuff Girls!!!!!" That was the last straw. I grabbed the controller, she grabbed the controller. We pulled at it, both of us tugging at it trying to gain control. Suddenly it flew out of both of our hands, just as Cid was coming in, flying directly towards his face. 

"Holy....." He never finished his sentence. He was unconscious before he could finish it. Vincent looked worried. 

"No one was there. I'll try again later......I hope shes ok..." Two hours later Cid woke up, with a very large lump. Then we all started fighting over what we wanted to watch. Shera came in after that. "Ok everyone, lets all go to bed!!!!! I've had it!!!!!!" We all ran off to our beds, and were fast asleep. Then, at 4:00 in the morning the phone rang. Vincent went to get it. He talked for a half and hour, and then ran in the room and said, "Im a Father!!!!!!"

((Tifa's POV))

I turned on the TV, because I had no idea about what had happened to Vincent. The bar was closed, Barret was with Red XIII playing Frisbee with Marlene. Then I saw it. Cids plane had been destroyed, no chance of survivors. "No.............." I needed Vincent. The baby needed Vincent. 

Red and Marlene ran in. "That was fun!!" Suddenly I had a very strange feeling..........I had heard about it before. My water had broken. 

"Barret!!!!!!! Help!!!!!!!!" He ran in. "Im having a baby!!!!!" He drove me as fast as he could to the hospital. I was quickly put on the stretcher, and then I was helped (Authors note here, well, um, I think I'll spare the readers everything here, and we'll all just say Tifa had her baby). It was a girl. She was beautiful. Barret came in proudly with Red, and they looked at her. Barret was the first to speak. 

"I think she looks like a tomato." I stopped looking at her, and threw my shoe at Barret. I would call her, um...........................Amanda. "Little Amanda.......your so cute."

The next day Vincent decided that he was going to have to go and take an airplane back to Midgar. An airplane station had just recently been built in Rocket Town. We were all sad he had to go, but we understood. We stayed there for another day, and then we were on our journey. We all decided to catch a Chocobo though, so it wouldn't take as long, and we wouldn't be caught by monsters. We rode bravely on, but then we had to leave the Chocobos at the entrance to Mt.Nibel. We walked where I had once fought with the powerful Materia keeper, and then we climbed up the stairs, and walked the long, hard journey to Nibelhelm. Yuffie's whining didn't help any either. I should've brought Barret...........Even though he and Cid were terrible together it still would have been better. After three hours we finally made it though. Nibelhelm................I ran to it. We decided to stay at the inn first, before going to the mansion. We rested, all of us anxious. Then we entered the mansion. We walked slowly through it. We walked up the stairs, went to the right, and soon we were at the long foot of stairs. "I don't know about you guys, but this place still gives me the creeps." that was Yuffie of course. We walked down the stairs, and were soon at the place were we had found Vincent. We walked past that. Then we opened the door. The place had been cleared. The books were still there, but that was it. "It looks like a...........a dungeon." that was Yuffie once more. I knew Aeris was here. **Aeris, I will find you again. Where are you?** Suddenly a ninja clad in black jumped out. It all happened so fast. A net fell down, and we couldn't get out, because it had very heavy waits pinning the net down. We did our best to escape, but we were sunk. The ninja then release a kind of gas in our direction. **Aeris............I will save y...........** I was out. 

Vincent came home quickly, and I saw him, and hugged him. "This is little Amanda." I said holding her. He was in shock. 

"Im a Father." 

I smiled. "That you are Vincent." I gave her to him, and she squirmed lightly. He held her for a while, and then put her cradle, and then came back, and kissed me. When he parted from me he looked at me and said, 

"We have to send Barret and Red out. I just know that the others are in danger." Then the door was opened, and there was a man with long brown hair, glasses, and a gray suit. 

"Not without me."

I had never seen him before in my life. "Um, may I ask who you are sir?" He looked at me and smiled. 

"My name is Jarik Gunheed. I go by Cait Sith when I am a giant white robot. The company couldn't afford another one of me, so I snuck out, and here I am!" This was Cait Sith. Barret and Red came then with supplies and backpacks. "Ok, lets go and take the plane to Nibelhelm." Then they left. 

I woke up chained to a wall. I groggily looked to my right and left, and I saw Yuffie and Cid. They were still out. I looked forward, and saw a man with long silver hair and a black cape, sitting on a throne made of gold and a seat of velvet. 

"Ah, so you finally wake up Cloud. I was beginning to think you would never. Im guessing you want to know how Im alive. I will tell you, but let me wake up your friends first. I hate telling the same story twice." With that, Yuffie and Cid were electrocuted with a blue bolt. "AGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" That was both of them. "Good you are all awake. Cloud, do you remember when you finished me off? A second before you did I replaced myself with an android. He's the dead one." So thats how he came back....

"I see. Who's your little ninja friend? Another one of your cronies?" He looked at me with a glare. "No of course not. Come out and meet him." Out walked a woman wearing a gold breastplate/bikini top, and a long red loincloth. "So, you must be Cloud."

I stared in disbelief. "Aerith?" She smiled evilly. "Hello, Cloud darling, no time no see. I hear you've settled down with Tifa the slut, and she has born you a child." I gaped at her, and then started laughing.

"YOU DARE LAUGH AT ME?" 

"Aerith, I wouldn't settle down with Tifa. I love you. I have loved you for a long time."

"Silence you F***ing liar.. You dare say the great Sephiroth would lie to me? You married Tifa. You threw me in the river, laughing. Mocking me. Saying how weak I was. Sephiroth showed me images." With that she took out her katana and held it to my throat. I am ruthless. I am not the innocent Aerith you once knew. I destroyed Kalm. I did it with pleasure. Fear me." 

I looked at Yuffie and Cid. Cid looked shock. Yuffie was wetting her pants. Aerith smiled cruelly. 

"Aerith...what happened to you?"

"My eyes were opened. I saw how I had always hated you. You are going to die as well now. Farewell." She raised it, and she...she...planted her sword in Yuffie's heart. I was in shock. I looked at Yuffie. She had a look of shock on her as well. No...No...NO!!!!!!!!!! 

"AERIS, WHY!!!!!!!!?????" 

"Oh, come on Cloud! Do you really miss Yuffie? You never really liked Yuffie! None of you ever did. I know because I see all. Next Cid will go." She raised her Katana to Cid's throat. She pressed it lightly against Cid's throat. A trickle of blood came out. She smiled. Then she took it away, and then, Barret shot her in the back. I didn't know if I was to be happy or depressed. Her wounds healed up. Then the bullets shot at me. I dodged them, and my chains broke. I jumped out, and wrapped Aeris in a headlock. She grabbed my arm and twisted it before I could even tighten my grip. 

"Im not the Aeris you once knew." Boy did I ever know that... She sprawled me across the floor. I noticed her muscles. She was much stronger, and she wasn't herself. She must've been brainwashed. There was no other explanation...

I found my sword and quickly released Cid, and hurled him his weapon. It was total chaos. Red, Barret, and now Cid and I were attacking Sephiroth's cronies. I got out my ultima materia. I used it on Aeris. She passed out. Though she was strong, she was still weak in a way. I picked her up, and carried her out and laid her in Vincent's coffin. I locked it. There was a space for her face. She quickly came to. 

"Let me out. Now. I will go and...and..."

"You're trapped Aeris. Lets talk."

She glared at me with her deep emerald colored eyes. The last time I had seen them they were staring at me, with a sad sort of smile. 

"No. I refuse."

"Aerith, ok, Sephiroth brainwashed you. What is the last thing you remember?"

"I am not Aerith, so I don't know any of these things, anyhow."

I stared at her in disbelief. 

"What?" 

"I woke up in a capsule. Sephiroth was smiling at me. He is my creator."

"You're...Not...Aerith?"

"The real Aeris lies dead in the lake to this day. YOU KILLED HER! YOU MURDERER! Sephiroth recreated me. He rescued me. I will fight for him till the end. I have nothing to live for. Nothing but to protect my creator. Now Cloud, die." 

Before I could speak, she punched through the coffin. I ran. Tears were starting up. My Aeris was dead. I was once more alone. I shouted to the others to come on. We ran. We ran like crazy. Only a few cronies were left. Barret ran carrying Yuffie's frail, dead body. We ran further, and further. Nothing mattered. Aeris. Gone forever. 

We ran upstairs, we ran out, and we ran...We stopped when we were almost to Rocket Town. Barret has Yuffie's body in his arms, we were all a bit weepy. Aeris...Aeris...Gone. I explained slowly to everyone what had happened...Aeris...Aeris...WHY? I wanted Aeris. I remembered holding her...I missed her. Missed her smile. I loved her...Nothing more to live for. Nothing. I looked at my sword. I held it in the air. I held it to my chest. I could slice myself in half. Aeris...Gone. My friends looked at me. Cid stopped me.

"Cloud, what the @##@$#@ do you think you're doing?"

"Aeris is gone. Gone forever. Without love what point is there to go on living. Without her, I am nothing."

"Cloud, shut the %$#@ up! Aeris loves you...She loves you a lot. She's probably looking at you right now. In the lifestream. Don't you think she misses you? She probably misses you like hell!"

I looked down. They were right...But...But...

We continued walking. Nothing mattered. I held everything in, I was like a stone.

__

**Aeris...I want to hold you. See your smile. See you laugh. See you cry. Even see you get angry. Return to me, my beautiful darling...Please. I need you....**

((Aeris' POV)) 

They had escaped us. I had failed my master. 

"Master, They...Escaped." 

I bowed my head in shame.

"Fair Aerith, We will reclaim them. They WILL be captured, and we WILL get them." 

I smiled. He always knew what to do. I had woken up in a capsule, and there he was, smiling at me. I knew I had no purpose in life. He had created me to serve, and that I would do. I had trained, hard, and long. I was strong, because of the steroids he had given me. He had made me whole again. He had reconstructed me. My Master...

I went to my cot. I sat down, and lay my head. Then...Those accursed dreams came. They would come quite often. They...There I was. I was in these dreams...

There Cloud was. No...Not this dream. I hated this one the most. Cloud was about to strike me. He would try to strike me, and then I would wake up...This time however...He tried to strike me. Then Yuffie and Tifa went and told him to stop. He stopped...He had been under Sephiroth's control...No...This was a dream. I wanted to wake up. Wanted to scream...Then Sephiroth came down. Shards of glass fell. Before anyone could do anything, I was impaled. Blood fell freely. No...I was dead. Cloud was crying. Sobbing. Screaming curses at Sephiroth. 

I jerked upwards. Then...Against my masters will, I walked over to the computer. It showed all images. I asked it to show me the death of Aeris. It...It was the same as my dream...Then...I asked it to show what happened to her. I saw myself...I was in a lake. It was a day since I had died...Sephiroth dove into the water, and brought up my corpse...He...He cured it. Then he put me in a capsule, and...He injected me with steroids. He brainwashed me. Made me love him. Made me obey him. No...He...He had killed me. He had destroyed my life. 

"So now you know. A pity. I must now kill you. And start from Square one..."

I turned around. Sephiroth...

"You killed me. You took me away from loved ones. Now you die."

I had my katana. I lunged for it. Too late. He was much faster. He kicked me, and held me down. He punched me. Hard. I was quick though. I lept up, and punched him. It did nothing but hurt my hand...I had made the idiotic mistake of punching with my thumb in my fist. I heard a cracking sound. I had broken my right hand. It was useless. He pressed me on the ground. Punched me, kicked me...

"You...You killed me."

"Yes. I did. And then I resurrected you. Made you the way you should've been. Aeris, rejoin me. We can take back the world." 

My will...Must obey him...Must....He was my master. I loved him. Nod Aeris. Nod. Nod your head, return to him, and the glorious paradise he has for you, since he loves you. You could be with him...

"I...I..."

"Aeris, you can't kill me, or disobey me. You love me too much. You want to run to me, with open arms, hold me...Aeris, I brought you back." 

He pressed hard on my ribs. Crack. Crack. Crack. Pain...Agony...

Then Cloud came, and shouted at me. 

"Aeris! Don't give in!" 

((Cloud's POV)) 

The man who had taken my love's life before was now trying to do it once more. He would not. I had to help her. Then...she submitted...

"Master Sephiroth, I will obey you. Please forgive me of my trespasses." 

No...Aeris, WHY? 

He healed her...She took her katana, and she lunged at me. Then she whirled her katana around at me, and ran towards me. I wouldn't stop her. I couldn't live without her. She smiled evilly. Sephiroth floated to the side, and he smiled, as Aeris went and then...I saw her mouth. She mouthed the word, "Duck." 

I didn't know...Then it became clear...She lunged at me, and I stood still. Sephiroth was right behind me, looking at the wonderful view, and laughing. She took her long katana, and she slashed it in my necks direction. A split second, and my head would've been off. I ducked. It was Sephiroth's head lopped off. Not mine. I walked over to the head. It still had an evil grin on it. 

Then a beam of light shot from Sephiroth to Aeris. I knew what it was...His powers had been passed on to her. No matter. My sword and hers fell to the ground with a clang. We stood, transfixed by the moment. I was near my love. Near my one true love. She went, and picked up her katana, and began sobbing. She broke down in tears. She walked over to Sephiroth's body, and she started madly hacking. Tearing. Chopping off body piece after body piece, plunging her sword madly while shouting curses. I didn't know what to do. She stopped, still sobbing. 

She fell to the ground, now stained with blood. She sobbed more. I ran to her, and wrapped my arms around her petite figure. 

"Aerith...He's gone, my love. Its ok." 

"I destroyed Kalm. I killed hundreds of people. I killed Yuffie!"

"Aeris...He made you, he brainwashed you....Aeris...I love you...Please..."

The hard, twisted look of hatred and anger left her face. It softened. A small smile crept to the angelic, perfect face. She wasn't a war monger. She wasn't a battle Valkyrie. She was simply Aeris. She cried, tears falling. Staining the blood stains already there. I looked into her deep eyes, falling into them, entranced. I looked at her, her soft white skin, her long silken gold/brown hair...Her soft pink lips...I kissed her. Kissed my beloved Aeris, last of the Cetra. Woman I had thought was dead. Woman who I had missed. Woman who I couldn't live without. Woman who had turned a cold, money hungry war monger into a caring man. How I had missed her kiss. Her smile. Her love. Her tears fell, even as we kissed, and they brushed my face, but I didn't care. All that mattered was that the woman I loved was back. And I would live with her forever...Until death. 

Epilogue

We went to Cosmo Canyon. We were married there. I loved being there, as did she. The only downside was living so close to Red...Since Sephiroth had given his powers to Aeris, she revived Yuffie. Aeris and I are happy to this day. She's even expecting our first child...All I know, is that I cannot live without her. I will never part from her again. She is my soul mate. I am empty, and despondent without her. We are like two halves, that can only survive when together...I am happy, because, at last, my love has returned to me. 

The End


End file.
